High investment in China Education could be paying off: Shanghai students received first places in all tested subjects (science, reading and math) in the recent PISA examination that was taken in late 2010, while leaving the United States in the 23rd and 24th places out of 62 countries examined overall.

Although Shanghai is the only province in China who participated in the exam, and although it does not represent China as a whole, the PISA test scores alarmed U.S officials and stirred a large debate whether the level of education in the United States is indeed deteriorating and whether something should be done about the issue.

Watch: China Education and the United States

Another interesting element that the PISA test scores revealed is how Asia as a whole has been beating the western world in the education race: Asian nations dominated in the exam and received top places (South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore, to name a few).